PITTSBURGH -- Joe Kelly began the season in the St. Ashley Williams Jersey . Louis Cardinals bullpen with an electric fastball and an identity crisis. Consider the crisis solved. At the moment, Kelly has become The Stopper. The right-hander allowed four hits over six solid innings to win his fourth straight start and the Cardinals moved back into a tie for first place in the NL Central with a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. Kelly (7-3) walked two and struck out five while remaining unbeaten since being moved to the starting rotation full-time in July. "Hes kind of figured himself out," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "Early in the season, he was confused. He thought he should be a strikeout guy at 97 (mph), but with the movement on his fastball hed be crazy not to use that movement to try to command the bottom of the zone and get ground balls, too." Kelly received plenty of help from an offence that snapped out of a three-game funk by tagging Pittsburgh spot starter Kris Johnson (0-2). Matt Holliday and David Freese drove in two runs apiece while Matt Carpenter, Allen Craig, Yadier Molina and Shane Robinson added two hits each for St. Louis. The Cardinals managed all of one run over the first 18 innings of the series, losses that came at the hands of proven veterans Francisco Liriano and A.J. Burnett. On Sunday they faced a 28-year-old making his first major league start who was nearly out of baseball two years ago. "For us to come back out in a day game after scoring one run the first two nights was really big," Freese said. "It finally gave us a little momentum." Pittsburghs push for an NL Central title could go down to the wire. The Pirates reclaimed first place with a 7-1 victory Saturday night but St. Louis responded by knocking around Johnson, who took the hill after Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle decided to give struggling All-Star Jeff Locke a much-needed breather. Locke is 1-2 with a 6.88 ERA in the second half, and Hurdle thought a few days off would allow the left-hander to work on his mechanics and get some rest. Locke wont pitch again until next weekend at the earliest. If Pittsburgh decides he needs even more time off, it will likely have to look elsewhere for help after the Cardinals took it to Johnson. Carpenter doubled to open the game and Robinson followed with a walk. Craig and Molina provided consecutive RBI singles, and Jon Jay added a sacrifice fly to stake Kelly to a 3-0 lead before he threw his first pitch. The advantage grew in the third when Freese doubled to score Craig and Molina and end Johnsons day. Two weeks after limiting Arizona to one run in six innings of relief in his first major league appearance, Johnson gave up five runs on seven hits in two-plus innings. "These are the kind of situations you want to be put in, I just didnt take advantage of them when I had the chance," Johnson said. "I worked all my life to get here and to fall short today, just going to have to get back on the field, get back on the throwing program and get back to where we were before." Justin Morneau went 1 for 3 in his debut with the Pirates a day after Pittsburgh acquired the first baseman from Minnesota to bolster the franchises bid for its first playoff appearance in 21 years. Kelly has been a pleasant surprise since moving into the rotation. He never let the Pirates in the game, allowing only an RBI single by Marlon Byrd in the sixth. By then the Cardinals had things well in hand as baseballs tightest division race once again drew even. "My velocity was a lot better than in my last start, my sinker was really working and I was able to pitch to both sides of the plate," Kelly said. The Pirates, whose 79 wins are tied for the franchises high-water mark since 1992, made two bold moves last week in hopes of drawing ahead. They brought in Byrd and catcher John Buck from the New York Mets on Tuesday, then made an even bigger splash Saturday when they convinced Morneau to leave Minnesota after 11 seasons. Morneau arrived at PNC Park midway through Saturday nights blowout and watched the remainder of the game from the dugout. He got a better view on Sunday, playing first base and batting sixth. The 2006 AL MVP grounded out in his first plate appearance, walked in his second and then lined a single to right field his third time up. He ended his first game for Pittsburgh with a deep fly to the warning track in the ninth. NOTES: Pittsburgh LHP Wandy Rodriguez is dealing with arthritis in his pitching arm. Rodriguez, who has been on the disabled list since July with forearm tightness, is expected to resume his throwing program this week after a visit with Dr. James Andrews revealed no structural damage to the arm. Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said the team remains hopeful Rodriguez can return in some capacity down the stretch. ... The Cardinals activated C Tony Cruz from the 15-day disabled list even though Cruz hasnt been cleared to swing a bat as he recovers from a broken forearm. Cruz would be used only in an emergency. ... The Pirates begin a three-game series in Milwaukee on Monday. Charlie Morton (6-3, 2.14 ERA) faces Tyler Thornburg (1-0, 1.94). ... St. Louis travels to Cincinnati on Monday to begin a four-game set with the Reds. Adam Wainwright (15-8, 2.96) starts for the Cardinals against Mat Latos (13-5, 3.03). ... The Cardinals sent reliever Michael Blazek to Milwaukee to complete the trade they made Friday for RHP John Axford. Joe Allen Jersey . Pace had a career-high 10 sacks for Rex Ryans defence-- second only to Muhammad Wilkersons 10 1/2 -- in his sixth season with the Jets. The 33-year-old outside linebacker was an unrestricted free agent. Custom Wales Soccer Jerseys . Orlando is to begin play in the MLS for the 2015 season. Kaka, who currently plays with AC Milan, is expected to be loaned out to his home club Sao Paulo for the upcoming season before joining Orlando for next season. http://www.soccerwalesstore.com/ashley-williams-wales-UEFA-EURO-jersey/ . The 29-year-old Mills started three games for Oakland this season, posting a 1-1 record with a 4.41 earned-run average. He opened the season appearing in 14 games and making 12 starts for the Milwaukee Brewers triple-A affiliate in Nashville, posting a 4-2 record with a 1.SAN JOSE, Calif. -- When the shootout dragged on into the eighth round, San Jose coach Todd McLellan was running out of good options. Joe Thornton made the most of a rare opportunity. Thornton scored his first shootout goal since 2007 and the Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 Wednesday night to extend the home-team dominance in this California rivalry. "Coach doesnt tend to look my way in a shootout, but it was nice to be involved in one," Thornton said. Thornton hadnt been used in a shootout since McLellan sent him out in the seventh round of an 11-round tiebreaker on Dec. 11, 2009, against Dallas. He hadnt scored in one since two years before that on Dec. 16, 2007, against Anaheim. But McLellan saw that his players had success trying to deke Ben Scrivens as opposed to shooting the puck past him, so he gave Thornton a chance. He skated in and stuffed a backhand past Scrivens for what proved to be the game-winner. "Obviously Jumbos not a big shooter, but he can move his hands pretty well, and he ends up coming up with the win," McLellan said. Antti Niemi then stopped Tyler Toffoli to seal it. Niemi made 38 saves as San Jose opened a difficult stretch of three games in four days against top-five teams. Thornton and Joe Pavelski scored in regulation for the Sharks, who have won nine straight at home against the Kings including the post-season. In all, the home team has won the last 14 matchups, including all seven in last springs playoff series won by Los Angeles. "Its kind of the same way theyve beaten us in their rink -- by one goal, comeback, or however it works out," Pavelski said. "We know we can play with them. We had our chances to win there. They are probably saying the same thing here. Weve got to find ways to win in their building as well, but this was a good win for us tonight." Jeff Carter and Drew Doughty scored for the Kings, who tied a franchise record by earning a point in their 11th straight game. They also did that in 1973-74 and 2010-11. Scrivens made 38 saves. "It was fun, though we came out at the wrong end of it," Scrivens said. "They have some skill guys. Its a learning experience." The game was played with the high intensity expected from ttwo fierce rivals with a recent playoff history who are at the top of their games. Wales Soccer Jerseys. These teams have met twice in the past three postseasons, with each winning once, including Los Angeles triumph in the second round last spring. Each benefited from a fluky goal, with San Jose taking a 2-1 lead late in the second period when Thornton took the puck from Willie Mitchell behind the net and then Scrivens kicked in a loose puck. The Kings got the fortunate bounce early in the third to tie the game when Doughtys centring pass hit defenceman Scott Hannans skate and deflected past Niemi for the equalizer. Los Angeles then killed off three successive minor penalties in a span of less than 7 minutes to preserve the tie and set the stage for shootout. "It was pretty intense," Kings centre Anze Kopitar said. "We got off to a good start and I thought we played well in the second period and were down, 2-1. We got it back and went deep into the shootout." The Kings jumped on top early when Dwight King knocked down Tomas Hertl on the opening shift and played a pass off the end boards to Carter, who banged it past Niemi just 18 seconds into the game. Niemi prevented Los Angeles from adding to that lead when he stopped Mike Richards backhand attempt on a 2-on-0 break after Richards stole the puck from Dan Boyle. The Sharks then dominated the second half of the period, but Scrivens stopped all 18 shots in the first to preserve a 1-0 lead. Pavelski tied it early in the second when he got to a loose puck in the slot and lifted it over Scrivens for his ninth of the season. Los Angeles failed to capitalize on a 4-minute power play when Boyle was called for high-sticking Justin Williams. Despite near constant pressure, Niemi stopped all six shots during the double minor to the delight of a sellout crowd that chanted "Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!" throughout the night. NOTES: The Kings went 0 for 4 on the power play and have converted just three of their last 35 chances. ... Thornton moved into sole possession of 50th place on the career points list with 1,143. ... D Matt Irwin returned to the lineup for San Jose after being a healthy scratch for six straight games. Jason Demers sat out. ' ' '